Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1887-06-25
CHI A PIER Xxx.


THE GREAT MAN
Completely overcome by this last remark,
Hans collapsed like jelly fish out OF water,
and reflected in his worthless old heart that
Frank Muller was indeed "a devil of a man."
By this time they had reached the door OF the
little house and were dismounting, and in an
other minute Hans found himself in the pres
ence OF one OF the leaders OF the rebellion.
He was short, ugly man of about IS, with
big nose, small eyes, straight hair and
stoop. The forehead, however, was good,
and the whole face betrayed a keenness and
ability far beyond the average. The great
man was seated at a plain deal table, writing
something with evident difficulty upon a
dirty sheet of paper and smoking a very
large pipe.
"Sit, heeren, Sit he said when they en-
tered, waving the stem of his pipe toward
deal bench. Accordingly they sat down with
out even removing their hats, and, pulling
out their pipes, proceeded to light them.
"How, in the name of God, do YOU spell
'excellencyr" asked the general, presently,
Il have spelled it in four different WAYS and
each one looks worse than the last.n
Frank Muller gave the REQUIRED informa-
ton. Hans in his heart thought he spelled It
wrong, but he did not dare to say so. Then
came another pause, only INTERRUPTED by the
slow scratching of a quill across the dirty
paper, during which Hans nearly went to
sleep; for the weather was very hot, and he
was tired with his ride.
hTbere,r said the writer. presently gazing
at his handwriting with an almost childish air
of satisfaction, '.that is done A curse on the
very well without it; WHY should not WEI
Though. to be sure. it is useful for treaties
with the Kaffirs. don't believe YOU have
told me right now about that 'excepencv,'
nephew. Well, it will have to serve When
man writes such letter as that to the rep
resentative of the English queen he needn't
mind his spelling; it will be swallowed with
the rest" and be leaned back in his chair and
laughed softly.
"Well, Meinheer Coetzee, what is it, All.
know; the prisoners Well, what did you
dor
Hans told his story, and was rambling on
when the general cut him short
so cousin, so! You talk like an OK wagon
rumble and creak and Jolt, devil of a
noise and turning OF wheels, but very little
for our four, VIII theyt Well, that Is about
Iair proportion. NO. IL Is not though; four
boers are oetter IMAM Twelve Engilshmen any
day-ay, better than fortyF and he laughed
AGAIN ell, the men snail be sent IN as
you arranged they VIII heip TO eat up their
last biscuits. GOOD DAY, cousin. Stop,
.hough' one "or'i before you 60 l have
, apouV you at tlii'eS' cousin, l nave
ne'iiu 1t san. .ha' YOU caiiho' pe uusteL
VOW ooi1 kho" II thdt Is So L don't
pelieVe myself ony, ns1eh' IL should
We 50, anu shouiu iino you ouo py Uodi
l VIII nave you cut INTO flmpls with
aloero4 sJatnoocks, ana then shoot You and
send IN your carcass as present to the Eng
lish, and as he SAID IL he leaned forward and
piousu. uo"h ms us. upon tne deal taDle
win a Dang that produced a most unpleasant
erect upon poor Hans nerves, and cold
gieam OF sudden 1erocity flckered In the
Small eyes, very discomorting for timid
man 70 behold, however innocent ne knew
himself to be
Il swear he began to babbie.
Swear not at all, cousin; you are an elder
of the church. There is no need to. besides. /
told you did not believe it of you; only l
have had one or two cases of this sort OF thing
lately. No, never mind who they were. You
will not meet them about again. Good day.
cousin, good day. Forget not to thank the
Almighty God for our glorious victories He
will expect it from an elder of the church y
Poor Hans departed crestfallen. feeling
| that the DAYS of him who tries bowevar skill.
| fully and impartiallv. To sit unon two stools
Mt once are not h,nnv dave a,d soma,; n,ae
threaten to be short ONES And Sunnosina
that the Englishmen should win after aIl-as
| in his heart he hoped they m;rht-hov sbould
he then prove that he had horned ia Tbe
general watched him waddle through the
door from under his pent brows, a hall
humorous, half menacing expression on his
face.
| "A windbag; a coward; a man without a
| heart for good or for evil. Bah, nephew. that
is Hans Coetzee have known him for years
| Well, let him 90. He would sell Us if he
| could, but / have frightened him now. and
what is more, if see reason, he shall find
never bark unless / mean to bite. Well,
enough of him Let me see, have Thanked
| you yet for your share in MaJubaa Ali that
was glorious victoryl How many were
there of you when you started up the noun.
|
Eighty men,"
@And how many at the end!"
zone hundred and seventy-perhaps fe"
more.
| And now many Oh you were his'
| Inree-one Killed, Two wouhaeo, anu
few scratched
| w onderfui' wonderIuii Ii was DraV'
deed, and because 1t was SO brave IL was sue
cessfuL de must have been mad, that Eng
lish general. Who shot him"
"Breytenbach- coliey held up whit
nanaKerchel III MS haha' ana reytehoacl
nred' ana down Went the general al Oh
heap, and then they all ran heller skelter dow
the hill Yes, it was a wonderful thing
They could have beat us back with their lef
hand That is what comes OF having a right
eous cause, uncle. "
The general smiled grimiy. That Is VIVA